Happy National Cat Day!

A living tribute to the only “kid” in my life – Loki the rescued and adopted kitty. | Image designed by blog author.

The only downside to celebrating these National and International Something or Other Days is that Malaysia is always a day ahead of the United States, so whatever National or International Celebrated Day will always and only be known about the following day. The only way to overcome this is to constantly check the calendar on the interwebs or make a mental note of the date and the occasion and make sure never to forget it when it comes around again next year.

For example, I wanted to post about chocolates on National Chocolate Day, but because I only found out (again) about it when the little celebration was circulating Facebook the following day. By then, I’d have posted on my blog about totally something completely unrelated to chocolates. Then again, I suppose it wouldn’t and couldn’t do me any harm if I did a second post, right? After all, the more posts, the merrier.

Alright, enough with the griping. Yesterday (October 29) was Happy National Cat Day. So here’s a post dedicated to my little feline friend who (im)patiently waits for my husband and I to come back from work every day in the little spare room that we’ve prepared for him. He’s got the whole room to himself, with our bicycles parked there as his “mountain-climbing-adventure-exploration” activities. There is a four-tiered shelf for him to climb into and hide away from us every time we open the room door, and suddenly and rather brazenly, dash out the room with raw excitement. There is also an old shoe cabinet with the doors left open for him to climb in and out of it. His litter box in one corner, a water-dispensing bowl and food bowl that is never empty, he is definitely one helluva pampered kitty.

Loki is his name, because in the Avengers movie, Loki is Thor’s half-brother who is always up to mischief and plotting and scheming for the Asgardian throne. While there are no crown jewels or thrones to be fought over in my condo, there is always that twinkle in his eyes, that he is somehow plotting and scheming when is the best possible time to dash out the room the moment we open the door. So far, that’s been his goal from the moment he was reinstated in there. Having been recently neutered somehow doesn’t stop him from committing his cheeky tricks and antics. But under all that nonsense behaviour, he’s actually a very loving cat who craves for human attention and TLC. Every morning, he meows for attention. Every evening, after we’re home from work, he screams for attention again. Heck, I think he pretty much screams for attention every living and breathing second of the day!

We hope he lives a long, prosperous and healthy life with us. I never thought I’d see myself having a cat since I’m more of a dog person. And I never thought I’d see the day my friend walking into our condo with a cat carrier bag and a rescued kitten in it. Welcome home, Loki. You’ll be safe always with us. Like another friend said, we’re very “Loki” to have you, and likewise, you’re very “Loki” to have us. We love you, little one.

I used to have a dog when I was living in Singapore until she passed away due to terminal illness. Now I would love to have a pet again but can’t due to erratic traveling back and fro from KL to SG. I’m toying the idea of fostering.. Any advice?

Ah, I see. But wouldn’t you need to be home to foster a pet too? I have a cousin who rescues cats from the streets and cares for them until she finds it a permanent home. But she and her fiance are normally home to care for the cat. Fostering is good if you have space for the pet, and the resources to support it (and yourself). Only foster if you can spare and arrange the resources (time, effort, money, space, etc) for it. Otherwise, you will find yourself in trouble if suddenly you need to fly off somewhere for work. Ultimately, it’s up to you. If you feel you can, go ahead. Do good for nature 🙂 If not, then I suppose you’ll have to wait until you find the right time for a pet. Foster or otherwise. I hope this helps. 😀